help with adjusting food intake to added exercise

braineblonde

i've been at this since the beginning of january. i used an online keto macro calculator to find my calories and macros to get started. i was not exercising at all and had about 30 lbs to lose. i have very high cholesterol genetically and manage it with natural suppliments, so the very high fat macro scared me a bit so i did adjust it down and bit and adjust my protein up. i have lost about 15 lbs. so far and feel very good. however, 2 weeks ago, i added exercise 6 days a week. i do about 20-30 minutes on the treadmill walking at a decent pace increasing the incline throughout on all 6 of the exercise days. 3 of the days i then spend about 30 minutes lifting weights (light weight with high reps) and the other 3 days i do yoga for 30 minutes. i'm 52 and have back issues so i am taking it slowly. my weight loss has stalled out since beginning to exercise, which i am not panicking about. i expected it. but i am so hungry and know i need to increase my calories. but i am afraid to do it! i've gone back to the keto macro calculators and they do show i need to increase my calories and it changes the macros, of course. i'm just afraid to do it. can someone help to reassure me that an increase in food intake is actually a good thing for me. anyone with experience similar to mine. it just seems counterintuitive to me that adding more food with help me begin to lose again, although that is probably what i need. i just need some reassurance here...

xhunter561

if your getting hunger you might want to consider either 1. ignoring the whole calories thing and consume some more food either healthy fats or protein. fat bombs with a little bit of protein seem to help but i would not be afraid to eat a little more if your hungry. 2. If your pron to eating sweeteners with sucrose, dextrose, ect. you might want to try removing them long enough to see if they are likely causes. with keto your likely going to notice certain cravings for either fats or proteins and you might want to go ahead a answer the cravings if your body is asking. Working out can result in muscle break down so during recovery your body is going to likely be wanting more protein or clean proteins ( unprocessed are better unless its a protein powder).

but don't be afraid to eat and don't overly sweat on the cholesterol thing because regardless of what people do, in a days time your body may make 3000mg of it if you don't consume any to reduce how much it needs to make on its own. your body will use it from everything from hormone production to fighting inflammation. every cell in your body should contribute to it. cholesterol is very important for your body and i really would not worry unless your having some bad side affects from it being over a certain number. Your HDL and LDL are not cholesterol they are lipoproteins that carry cholesterol to where it needs to go. HDL is what transports the cholesterol from the arteries back to the liver. LDL is what shuttles cholesterol from liver to vessels and cells in the body.

these are normally measured with blood test at the doctors office and the only time i would worry is if the LDL is up a little but only in the case on maybe getting your cardiovascular system checked just to make sure its not trying to fight off a potential stroke. But if you consume cholesterol rich foods make sure its from healthy fats and the likes, this paired with a healthy range of working out will help you in the long run.